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Penny Arcade takes over Christmas with loads of merchandise

You might be used to seeing various DC Comics and Marvel swag at your local chain department store, but just because they’re the biggest doesn’t mean they’re the best. The creators of the mega-popular webcomic Penny Arcade, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, have really out-done themselves with their expansive merchandise section this holiday season: In addition to shirts, hats, toys, plushes and, yes, comic books based on the Penny Arcade strip itself, their webcomic empire is offering a variety of those things to appeal to comics fans and gamers who may not have any knowledge of the strip.

Among what’s offered is a Christmas board book (think Golden Books from your childhood) called The Last Christmas, sporting a cover wherein Cthulhu is grappling with Santa Claus. Also featured is a number of shirts for babies, including a precociously cute “Gamebaby” shirt done in the style of the Nintendo Gameboy.

It’s amazing how one webcomic could spawn such a diverse and seemingly fruitful company expanding so heavily into merchandising, but, hey … didn’t Walt Disney say “it all started with a mouse?”